Working to get back on track, Escalon’s varsity volleyball girls split their Trans-Valley League contests this past week.
They swept Sonora in a home match on Sept. 29, winning 25-9, 25-23, 25-19.
Aniston Hunt had five aces, two kills, three blocks and 33 assists while Avery Bartelink had two aces, 13 kills, one block and 12 digs. Haven MacKinnon had an ace, six kills and three blocks; Emma Strong added 11 kills, one block and five digs; Brynn Caton had 20 digs and one ace; Riley Titsworth had four digs and two aces.
“Our girls were looking for revenge since Sonora knocked us out of the playoffs last year and it showed,” said head coach Stephanie Ceja. “These girls played great right from the start. Haven MacKinnon was on fire blocking in the front row, and Brynn Caton didn’t let a ball touch the floor all night.”
Hosting Hilmar on Oct. 1, the girls battled but ultimately fell in a five-set match, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 21-25, 12-15.
Hunt had 25 assists, seven digs, three aces and one block; Strong had an ace, 14 kills and five digs; Bartelink added 10 digs and five kills; MacKinnon had an ace and five kills; Caton added 18 digs and three aces; Titsworth had an ace and six digs.
“Our girls led every set except for set two, but unfortunately they just lost steam and Hilmar took advantage,” said Ceja. “We definitely struggled offensively and really couldn’t find the open spots.”
The team also broke out their Dig Pink jerseys for the Oct. 1 game for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and honored breast cancer survivor Julie Fox, mom to varsity player Kendall Fox. Players from all three levels of the volleyball programs took a moment for a photo with the cancer survivor as they displayed their pink jerseys.
Two wins went on the books for the JV girls, topping Sonora and Hilmar.
They defeated Sonora 25-23, 20-25, 17-15.
“Evelynn Strong was moved up to our JV team, and led with three aces,” said JV head coach Alyssa Cogburn. “Ryan Killingsworth had 20 digs, and Lanie Harris had 15 kills.”
Against Hilmar, it was a 25-20, 22-25, 15-10 victory for Escalon.
Killingsworth had 14 digs, said the coach, with 13 assists from Aubrey Anderson-Castro and 16 kills from Harris.
The freshmen had just one match for the week and took a league loss to Hilmar on Thursday. Head coach Mya Scott said the team was paced by Brooklyn Karp with four aces and seven digs; Paitynn Russell with three aces and five digs; Makayla Lopez with eight digs and Olivia Raley with six digs and two kills.
GOLF
A trip to the Yellowjacket Invitational was on tap for the Lady Cougar golfers on Sept. 28. It was an 18-hole tournament with a total of 21 schools competing. Down their number one and number three players for the tournament, Escalon took just four players and had a team score of 495, finishing 17th out of the 21 schools. Oakdale won the tournament with a team score of 355.
Leading Escalon were Jayci Trimble, 116 and Sofia Da Silva, 117; with Kristina Mendoza at 125 and Lori Brown at 137.
“Jayci and Sofia really stepped up and had outstanding scores for our team,” said head coach Chris Casazza. “Their scores were really significant improvements over the last score for 18 holes. I was really happy for them; they’ve both been putting in the work and over the 18 holes it really showed.”
On Sept. 29, Escalon hosted Ripon, the league-leading team.
“Our girls played really well early on in the match and the Ripon head coach commented that she was getting a little nervous,” Casazza said. “Our team has historically upset some first place teams in the past.”
But this time, it was Ripon taking the win, 161-183.
Samantha Bruns paced the team with a 44; Areli Herrera and Da Silva each had a 45 and Mendoza carded a 49.
On Sept. 30, the girls hosted Sonora and it was Senior Night, with recognition for Samantha Bruns, Jayci Trimble, and Areli Herrera.
“Posters were made by underclassmen, who also filled baskets with items that each of our seniors loved,” the coach said. “Parents had banners made for each of our seniors which were displayed next to the ninth green so that when our seniors finished that hole for the last time, they were greeted by their banners and waiting family and friends.”
He also said the seniors wore sashes, tiaras and received a bouquet of flowers.
“Sonora had two seniors on their team, and we included them with a sash, tiara and bouquet of flowers each,” Casazza said.
On the course, it was a close match with Escalon edging out Sonora, 175-184.
Bruns had a 40, Herrera carded a 42, Mendoza came in at 46 and Trimble at 47.
“One thing of note was that this was the first match in which all of our golfers had scores in the 40s,” Casazza said. “It was also fitting that our seniors had some of their best scores of the season.”
CROSS COUNTRY
It was a busy and eventful week for the Escalon Cougars cross country runners.
“This weekend the team went to Santa Cruz to enjoy a bit of training at the beach away from the heat. And it turned out to be well deserved; the Cougars had a fairly strong performance on Wednesday in Sonora for the second TVL Meet,” head coach Arend Jones said.
The JV girls narrowly missed third at the Sept. 30 meet, placing fourth overall, but handily beating Orestimba. Senior Miroslava Torres finished first for Escalon, placing 10th overall with a time of 16:46. Sophomore Amy Alvarado placed 13th with a personal best time of 17:09; senior Hope MacKinnon placed 20th with a time of 17:54.
The JV boys placed third, but they were close in points to the first and second place finishers, Ripon and Hughson.
“Sophomore Brandon Gonzalez had a spectacular race being the first to cross the line and finishing with a personal best time of 12:37,” Jones said.
Freshman Thomas Oliveira placed 11th overall with a personal best time of 13:37, and freshman Ivan Isidro placed 15th overall with a time of 13:52.
Varsity girls placed fifth overall, but handily beat Ripon Christian. Senior Victoria Calderon finished first for Escalon, placing 13th overall with a time of 24:11. Senior Samari Webster placed 27th overall with a time of 26:46; senior Peyton Houser Keaton placed 28th overall with a personal best time of 26:52.
Varsity boys narrowly missed fourth, placing fifth, beating out Orestimba and Hilmar.
“All five scoring Cougar athletes finished together, placing 28th through 32nd,” said Jones. “Senior Kenneth Vargas finished first for Escalon with a time of 20:57; sophomore Alden Schultz had a crazy sprint finishing second for Escalon with a personal best time of 21:25; and junior Ethan Young finished third with a time of 21:32.”
The cross country team has a break from competition this week, but will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 17 when they will take part in the entertaining Hughson Supercross.
FLAG FOOTBALL
A tough season continues for the varsity Lady Cougars flag football team as they took a pair of losses this past week.
They fell to Hilmar by a 41-6 final on Sept. 29 at home. Miley Krieger had two carries for 68 yards and a touchdown; Brooklyn Dugo had two catches for 17 yards and Bretta Brooks went 7-for-11 at quarterback for 54 yards but also had two interceptions.
On Thursday, Oct. 1, it was another game at home, this time the varsity was shut out by Orestimba, 27-0.
It was the opposite scenario for the JV girls, as they put two wins on the books.
They started slow against Hilmar, said head coach Lisa Luis, but got going in the second quarter and walked off with a 35-0 decision.
“Kyla Holback had a great game; she ran one in for a touchdown and found Lauryn Siegel and Madilin Teixeira in the endzone. We also got scores from Siegel on a run and Hadley Casazza on a punt return,” Luis said.
Defensively, Eden Airola had two interceptions, Siegel and Casazza added one each.
The JV girls also came out aggressively against Orestimba on Thursday. Holback and Siegel connected on a touchdown pass in the first quarter and Holback later found Maci Woodruff for a touchdown pass. Casazza scored on a short run to help lift the JV to a 21-0 victory.
Defensively, Katie Giuntoli played well at safety with two interceptions, Casazza had an interception as well.
“Natalie Romero played well at linebacker with a couple of tackles for loss,” added Luis.
